Fate: Hero of Justice Takeover

Rage was like sulfuric acid, corroding Kayneth's heart.

He was a first-rate magus, and by all accounts, he should never lose his composure over emotions, especially in the face of a formal competition.

In fact, if this battle had been a duel between first-rate magi, where both sides gave their all, Kayneth wouldn't have been so furious. He would have admired and revered his opponent's techniques, calmly assessed their true strength, and wholeheartedly employed the appropriate magecraft to counter them—just like his confrontation with Sakatsuki at the Hyatt Hotel.

Such noble and dignified gentlemanly contests were the kind of "battles" Kayneth was familiar with. He had come all the way to this remote country in the Far East to compete with Tokiomi Tohaka, Zouken Matou, and the other four competitors for the right to obtain the Holy Grail.

But now—the wound piercing his right shoulder was stimulating his pain receptors. It throbbed incessantly as if mocking and humiliating Kayneth.

This resulted from a single shot fired by Kiritsugu Emiya from his beloved gun, the Contender.

It had nothing to do with magecraft or Mystic Codes. It was merely a laughable toy assembled from mechanical parts, yet it had breached the barrier between mystery and reality, penetrated the defences of Volumen Hydrargyrum, and left a wound on the Lord of the Clock Tower.

This wound was not sustained in battle. That act—it could not be called a "battle."

It was like stepping through a rotten floorboard; like knocking over a pot while cooking; like having mud splatter onto one's finest clothes. The opponent was a cowardly insect, unworthy of being called an enemy. Even the sight of him was an insult to Kayneth's eyes, nothing more than a pile of revolting trash.

Betting on the dignity of Lord El-Melloi, he would never consider such a thing as a target for his "anger."

These were merely trivial matters, something to be laughed off as bad luck.

Even as Kayneth told himself this—the wound on his shoulder continued to scream. The searing pain tormented and gnawed at his pride.

Kayneth's pale face was as expressionless as a Noh mask. It was not the face of someone "angry," for Kayneth bore no hatred toward anyone. His rage was entirely directed at himself. He was simply furious at this abnormal situation.

"Impossible—"

His pent-up anger transformed into a destructive impulse, transmitted to Volumen Hydrargyrum. The mercury blade lashed out wildly, cutting and slashing at the walls of the surrounding corridor.

"Such lowly scum actually made me bleed... Impossible! How could this happen!"

Kayneth, with the pace of a sleepwalker, pursued the fleeing Kiritsugu.

Doors blocking his path were not pushed open but shattered by the weight of the mercury.

Vases, paintings, ornate furniture—all the decorations within sight were severed and utterly destroyed. Along the way, there were numerous traps.

Whenever Kayneth's unguarded foot caught on a wire or stepped on a fuse hidden beneath the carpet, pre-set grenades would explode, and mines would scatter shrapnel in all directions. The instantly expanding mercury membrane repeatedly blocked all attacks with ease.

The traps set by his opponent were like toys for children, so laughable that even Kayneth couldn't help but scoff. But as he mocked his opponent, he was also mocking himself for being wounded by such childish tricks.

Self-mockery cut into his pride like a razor, and the humiliation further fueled the flames of Kayneth's rage.

The Mystic Code he took pride in was not meant to deal with such despicable methods. His mercury was meant to intercept curses, deflect spiritual blades, and break through the flames, ice, and lightning of magecraft. It was a secret art that would bring his enemies to their deaths in awe and reverence.

So, what was this disgraceful state he was in now?

Fortunately, this humiliating chase was finally coming to an end.

No matter how vast the castle, the escape routes became limited when fleeing upward. The rat had been driven to the end of the third-floor corridor. This time, Volumen Hydrargyrum accurately detected his location. The target seemed to have given up, standing motionless, likely preparing for a final confrontation.

"A confrontation? No, this is not a confrontation. This is an execution, a slaughter!"

Kayneth's entire body trembled with cruel killing intent as he turned the final corner and arrived at the end of the corridor, facing his prey, who held dual guns.

"You didn't think your earlier tricks would work again, did you? Scum! The fact that you managed to wound me wasn't due to your timing or a successful ambush. It was nothing more than an unreasonable coincidence."

The arrogant magus spoke with a sinister tone, slowly advancing step by step toward Kiritsugu. Beside him, Volumen Hydrargyrum extended countless whips menacingly, swaying their sharp tips.

"I won't kill you quickly. I'll keep healing your lungs and heart, then slice you into pieces from head to toe. You'll die in pain, regret, and despair, cursing the Einzberns for daring to insult the Holy Grail War!"

Faced with Kayneth's declaration of execution, Kiritsugu felt no panic. Instead, he chuckled inwardly.

Good, very good—

By using Time Alter to suppress his bodily functions, he had deceived the mercury's detection of body temperature and heartbeat, breaking Volumen Hydrargyrum's tracking ability.

By using the Calico submachine gun's bullets to suppress the mercury's transformations, and then firing a Springfield bullet with seven times the destructive power of a 9mm round to penetrate Volumen Hydrargyrum and wound Kayneth's shoulder, he had broken the mercury's defensive capabilities.

As for Volumen Hydrargyrum's offensive capabilities, when the mercury took the form of a whip, only the base moved at high speed to swing the whip, while the tip had no force at all. The speed and power of the blade's tip relied solely on centrifugal force. Such high-speed attacks also meant monotonous movements, so no matter how Kayneth attacked, he had never managed to hit Kiritsugu.

Thus, the three major abilities of Volumen Hydrargyrum had been deftly countered by Kiritsugu. An ordinary person, upon realizing their trump card had been neutralized, would have retreated without hesitation.

But Kayneth did not. His rage had consumed his reason, driving him to act like a maddened bull.

This magus's arrogance, his stubborn refusal to adapt to the changing times, was the very weapon that would lead to his own demise.

And now, as a magus killer, all he needed to do was add fuel to the fire.

The Calico submachine gun spat fire, unleashing a relentless barrage of bullets.

"Fervor, mei sanguis!"

After being shot in the shoulder, Kayneth was not foolish enough to use the same method of defence. He reconstructed the mercury's defences, abandoning the membrane in favour of a pillar-like formation.

From the floor to the ceiling, countless inverted spikes rose like a dense bamboo forest, covering Kayneth's body and completely blocking the incoming bullets.

The bullets were stopped by the silver blades, bouncing between the spikes with deafening metallic clangs before losing momentum and falling to the ground. Not a single bullet touched Kayneth's body.

But Kiritsugu showed no intention of changing his strategy. The moment the M950's magazine emptied, the Contender in his right hand roared. This single bullet's destructive power far surpassed that of the 9mm rounds, having previously pierced Volumen Hydrargyrum's barrier and wounded Kayneth.

"You didn't think that trick would work again, did you? Scum."

Kayneth's mocking voice emerged from behind the protection of Volumen Hydrargyrum.

Unlike before, the pillar-like mercury offered far greater flexibility than the membrane form. The moment the lethal bullet touched the silver spikes, all the other spikes closed in like a Venus flytrap, enveloping the bullet completely. The densely packed, needle-like spikes transformed into a thick pillar in an instant, sealing off the .30-06 Springfield round.

This move fully demonstrated the versatility of Volumen Hydrargyrum. The precision and perfection of this fluid manipulation magecraft could be considered the ultimate technique of the prestigious Archibald family.

However, at the very moment, as Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald successfully executed this pinnacle of spiritual and technical mastery—his fate had already reached its end.

***

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